The logistics model in the showroom of Changan Minsheng APLL Logistics Co Ltd. (Photo by He Qingyu and Yu Meijuan/Visual Chongqing)

Chongqing - Wang Haoyu has an automotive app on his phone that allows him to get the latest information on new car models from major car manufacturers. Whenever companies like Changan Automobile release new energy vehicles, Wang immediately checks the app to learn about their specifications and features.

As the manager of the scheduling center in the complete vehicle division at Changan Minsheng APLL Logistics Co Ltd, he needs to receive such information promptly to prepare relevant plans for future transportation.

"I didn't have this habit when transporting fuel-powered vehicles," Wang said. This habit is something he developed only in the past several years. Now, all his division colleagues share this habit, with everyone having a similar app on their phones, he added.

Since the automotive industry has entered the era of new energy, Wang and his colleagues have experienced many changes in their work.

Smaller individual shipments

 For the understanding of many people, cars, as large consumer goods, are generally transported in bulk. This is especially true for companies like Changan Minsheng APLL Logistics, where each shipment typically involves at least a dozen vehicles. This was the norm during the era of fuel-powered vehicles. However, with the rise of new energy vehicles, Wang frequently receives orders that involve transporting only a few cars or even just one.

Increased inter-provincial transportation

With greater vehicle mobility, transportation plans in each city must be tailored to local conditions.

Car manufacturers expand their markets nationwide or even globally but do not set up production plants in every city. In the era of fuel-powered vehicles, car manufacturers often adopted planned regular replenishments in cities without factories, which was also the case for Changan Automobile.

However, in the era of new energy vehicles, with reduced inventory at individual stores, cities without production plants also face lower overall stock. Vehicles are often transported between provinces to quickly meet consumer car purchasing demands, increasing inter-provincial store-to-store shipments.

"Each city has its own transportation regulations, so every inter-provincial transportation plan must be customized," Wang said.

In Shijiazhuang, for instance, local regulations restrict large vehicles from entering the city all day, so Changan Minsheng APLL Logistics can only transport them to the outskirts. There, they are transferred to a smaller vehicle for delivery to the city.

For Beijing, large vehicles are prohibited from entering areas within the Third Ring Road before 11 pm, so every inter-provincial transportation involving the city requires careful planning, according to Wang.

With increased transportation volume and more stringent requirements, Wang is actually quite pleased. He said the company's inter-provincial transportation volume increased by about 150 percent compared to the previous year. This reflects the growing sales of new energy vehicles, with made-in-Chongqing new energy vehicles, like those from Changan Automobile, becoming more popular nationwide.

Direct consumer engagement

Apart from the changes in the business itself, Wang feels that the most noticeable transformation in the era of new energy vehicles is the company’s shift in identity: in the eyes of consumers, the transportation sector is no longer an invisible part.

"In the past, we mostly dealt with 4S stores and dealers, but now we might have to face consumers directly," said Wang, adding that in the NEV era, from the moment an order is placed, many stages of the process are traceable, such as the current production status or the location of the vehicle during transport.

Nowadays, many consumers directly call Changan Minsheng APLL Logistics to inquire about how long it will take for their purchased vehicle to arrive at its destination. This would never have happened during the era of fuel-powered vehicles, Wang noted.

"It's similar to online shopping. Once the seller ships the goods, consumers tend to focus more on the delivery status and may directly contact the logistics company if there's an issue," Wang said.

According to him, the company is now like a courier service, fully accountable to consumer oversight, and can no longer remain behind the scenes.

The transportation of NEVs also differs from fuel-powered vehicles in certain aspects, such as key management. Most fuel-powered vehicles only have one or two keys, so transport staff don't need to worry about this. However, the keys for NEVs are varied, and the transport staff must even understand how each model's key works in advance.

"So now, we must stay up to date on the details of each new energy model," Wang said. Nowadays, he and his colleagues are learning more about NEVs, and the company regularly conducts assessments. Only those who pass the relevant model tests are qualified to transport those vehicles.

(Zhuang Chunmeng, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)

(Yang Jun and He Qingyu, reporters from Chongqing Daily, contributed the Chinese version of this report.)